Tie-tamping apparatus.



PATENTED JULY14, 1908.

J. ILIFF. TIE TAMPING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED FEB.25, 1908.

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PATENTBD JULY14, 1908.

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' TIE TAMPING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 25, 1908.

No. 893,505. v PATENTED JULY 14, 1908.

J. ILIFF. TIE TAMPING-APPARATUS.

APPLIOATION FILED FEB. 25, 1908.

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31100 nl'oz witnesses {uz ly/iffiehft'ci-s' Quorum No. 893,505. PATENTEDJULY '14, 1908. J. ILIFF.

TIE TAMPING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED IEB.25,1908.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 6.

mwntoz UNITED STATES PATENT oFFIoE.

JOHN ILIFF, OF MADISON, WISCONSIN, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO EDWARD J.ILIFF, OF

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA.

TIE-TAMPING- APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 14, 1908.

Application filed February 25, 1908. Serial No. 417,655.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN ILIFF, a citizen of the United States, residingat Madison, in the county of Dane and State of Wisconsin, have inventednew and useful Improvements in Tie-Tamping Apparatus, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to a tie tamping apparatus of that typecomprising one or more tamping mechanisms mounted on a car which, whenin operation, is sustained on the'rails of the track, the ties of whichare to be tamped by the apparatus, the car being moved step by step forpermitting the ties to be successively tamped so that a new track can beconstructed or the ties of an old track tamped in a simple, expeditiousand inexpensive manner.

The invention has for one of its objects to improve and simplify theconstruction and operation of tie tamping machines of this character soas to be comparatively easy and inexpensive to manufacture, highlyeffective in operation, and requiring a minimum number of hands to carryon track construction or repairs.

A further object of the invention is to provide an apparatus includinga-plurality of= tamping sections relatively adjustable so that tampersof each section can be brought into proper relation with the ties to betamped, in combination with suitable driving connec tions whereby powercan be obtained from a single motor.

Another object is the employment of a plurality of tampers mounted on acarriage movable transversely to the car so as to tamp the earth orballast under the entire length of the ties.

A further object is to provide a plurality of pairs of tampers which areactuated on their striking or tamping strokes by coiled springs, thesprings permitting the strokes of the tampers to vary, as for instance,when any tamper strikes an obstruction. In this case, its spring willyield and when the obstruction is removed the tamper will resume itsnormal stroke.

A still further object is the provision of a tie tamping machine inwhich; the carriage is alternately moved in opposite directions to achange speed mechanism controlled automatically, so that when thecarriage has finished its movement to the left for the tamping of onetie, it can be-automatically reversed and moved to the right when themachine" is adjusted to the succeeding tie to be tamped, this back andforth movementof the carriage being accomplished automatically so thatthe only attention required on the part of the operator is to adjust thetampers to the successive ties.

An additional object is to provide means for elevating the tampers to asuitable height so that they, will not be in the path of obstructionsalong the track, as when it is required to move the apparatus from oneplace to another.

Another object is to provide an adjusting means so as to adjust thetampers to operate simultaneously on opposite sides of ties of differentwidths.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in thevarious novel features of construction and arrangement of parts whichwill be more fully described.

hereinafter and set forth with particularity in the claims appendedhereto.

In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate one of the-embodiments ofthe invention, Figure 1 is a side View of a tie tamping apparatus ofthat type comprising a plurality ofltarnping sections or mechanismsmounted on'a single car. Fig. 2 is a transverse section of the carshowing one of the tamping 1nechanisms or sections in front elevationand drawn on an enlarged scale. Fig. 3 is a plan view of one of the tietamping mechanisms. Figs. 4 and 5 are end views thereof viewed fromopposite sides of the car. Fig. 6 is an enlarged vertical section online 66, Fig. 3, of the carriage,reversing mechanism. Fig. 7 is aperspective view of one of the cams and shifting levers for alternatelythrowing the reversing element of the reversing device. Fig. 811s adetail view of one of the pairs of tampers. Fig. 9 is a section on line99, Fig. 8. Fig. 10 is a plan view, with parts in section, of the engineshaft and driving connection between the same and adjacent tie tampingmechanism designed to permit relative adjustment of the latter toward oraway from the engine. Fig. 11 is a detail sectional view of the gearingbetween the line shaft of the apparatus and the driving shaft of eachtamping mechanism. w

Similar reference characters are employed to designate correspondingparts throughout the several views.

- In the present instance, I have elected to illustrate the invention inthe form of a tie tamping apparatus consisting of a car with a pluralityof tie tamping mechanisms or sections mounted thereon, but it is to beunderstood that the invention contemplates the use of merely one sectionif preferred.

Referring to the drawing and particularly to Fig. 1, A designates a carof any suitable construction which is adapted to rest on the rails l ofthe track being laid for originally tamping the ties thereof or forre-tamping the ties of an old track in the repair thereof. In thepresent instance, the car consists of a central section 2 having aplatform or body 3 mounted on a truck 4 that is provided with Wheels 5bearing on the rails 1, and hingedly connected at 6 to the centralsection are end sections 7 of suitable length that have their outer endssupported on wheels 8 that run on the rails 1, the sections beingjointed at 6 so that the car can pass over any uneven and untampedportion of the track without undue strain. Mounted on the centralsection 2 of the car is an explosive engine B or motor of any suitabletype which serves to supply power to the various tamping mechanisms andalso for moving the car progressively over the track during the tampingoperation or for propelling it from place to place. On the sections 7 ofthe car are mounted the several tamping mechanisms designated generallyby C, and included in each mechanism is a shaft section 10 mounted insuitable bearings, and between the shaft sections of adjacent mechanismsand between the engine and the two innermost mechanisms are connections11 which permit of the carriages of the several mechanisms C beingreciprocated in a plane transverse to the car, each connection, as shownin Figs. 1 and 10, consisting of universal joints 12 and an extension orslip v joint 13, which latter serves to permit the sections to beadjusted longitudinally of the car for bringing the tampers into pro errelation to the ties to be tamped. T e slip joints 13 comprisetelescoping parts 14 and 15 of non-circular cross section for the urposeof transmitting rotary movement rom the crank shaft 16 to the engine. Itmay be found desirable to employ clutches between the engine shaft 16and the line of shafting extending therefrom to the tamping mechanisms,so that certain of the sections can' be thrown out of operation whendesired. For this purpose, the crank shaft, as shown in Fig. 10, may beprovided with a clutch of any improved ty e such as a hollow cone 17 onthe crank shaft and a cone 18 arranged to cooperate therewith, thesecond cone being thrown into and out of engagement by a suit-,

able operating lever 19. Any suitable drivin mechanism may be employedfor prope ling the car from the engine, and one way of accomplishingthis consists in providing a gear wheel 20 on the crank shaft whichmeshes with a gear 21 mounted on the stub shaft 22, and on this shaft isa hollow cone 23 with which cooperates a cone 24. The cone 24 is throwninto and out of engagement by a suitable operating lever 25, and thecone element 24 is provided with a sprocket wheel 26 which, through asprocket chain 27, Fig. 1, drives a shaft 28 on the truck 4 which shafthas gears 29 that mesh with miter gears 30 on-the axles of the truck soas to propel the car. When the apparatus is used for tamp: ing, theclutch element 24 will, of course, be disengaged so that the car willremain stationary and when it is desired to shift the car to tamp thesucceeding ties, the clutch 24 will be thrown into operation to move thecar the desired distance, after which the clutch will be thrown out ofoperation. During the propulsion of the car, the tie tamping mechanismscan be rendered inoperative by disconnecting the clutch elements 18 soas to permit the engine to operate independently.

The several tie tamping mechanisms are of duplicate construction so thata description of one will suflice. The tie tamping mechanism comprises acarriage D which consists of a pair of horizontal rectangular frames 27and 28 and corner uprights29 connected at their ends to the said frames.The carriage is mounted for movement in a plane transverse to the lengthof the car and also for movement longitudinally of the car. For thispurpose, the frame 29 has its side members 30 resting on rollers 31which support the carriage so as to move laterally. The rollers 31 aremounted in standards 32 on runners 33. The ends of the runners areformed with slots 34 as clearly shown in Fig. 2, for receiving the sidemembers or beams 35 of the sections 7 of the car, whereby the runnerscan slide longitudinally of the said side members. The runners areformed with extensions 36 that constitute bearings for thepinion-carrying shaft 37 extending transversely to the car and havingpinions 38 that mesh with the teeth of racks 39 on the side members 35of the car sections 7. Each shaft 37 has on one or both ends a crank 40for turning the shafts for the purpose of adjusting each tie tampingmechanism back and forth in a direction longitudinally of the car so asto bring the tampers of the respective mechanisms into proper relationto the ties to be tamped.

Each mechanism 0 is provided with a plurality of pairs of tampers 41that are formed into rod-like extensions or shanks 42 that pass throughapertures 43 in the plates 44 and 45 disposed res ectively above andbelow the frame 28. etween the tampers of each pair is avertically-extending post 46 that is mounted to the carriage with itslower end projecting below the body of the a car and its upper endprojecting above the carriage. Pivotally connected at the lower end ofeach post 46 on the transversely-extending rod 47 areoppositely-extending links 48 that have their outer ends pivotallyconnected at 49 to the adjacent tampers 41. As shown in Figs. 8 and 9,each post 46 has provided in its opposite faces longitudinal guideways50 that are undercut, and movable longitudinally of each guideway is aslide 51, and the slides are individually connected with a tamper 41 bya link 52 for the purpose of lifting the latter. On the shank of eachtamper is a collar 53 on which bears the lower end of a compressionspring 54 which operates to move the tamper on its striking stroke. Theupper ends of the springs 54 bear on the under plates 44 which formfixed abutments therefor. The shanks of the tampers are provided withapertures 55, Fig. 4, for permitting a pin to be inserted when thetamper is fully raised so that the pins will rest on the top plates 45and thus hold. the tamper in inoperative position in case it is notrequired. For the purpose of lifting the tampers, the slides 51 areprovided with horizontally extending lugs or projections 56 with whichcobperate earns 57 mounted on the horizontal shaft'58 extendingtransversely to the car and mounted at its ends in the frame 27. Thecams are arranged in pairs and those of each pair are spaced so as to bedisposed at opposite sides of the adjacent post 46 so as to be in thepath of the projections or lugs 56 extending from opposite sides of thesaid post, thus as the shaft 58 rotates, the cams will engage under therespective lugs 56 and thereby raise the slides 51 which operate throughthe links 52 to raise the tampers, and as soon as the cams pass fromunder the said lugs, the springs 54 suddenly expand so as to force thetampers downwardly on the tainping strokes. On each cam shaft is a mitergear 59 that meshes with a miter gear 60 on a short countershaft 61mounted in suitable bearings on the carriage, and on the shaft 61 is agear wheel 62 meshing with the gear wheel 63 on the section 10 of theline shaft driven by the motor.

In order to adjust the tampers to operate on ties of different widths,the several pairs of tampers can be simultaneously moved apart or drawnnearer together. This is accomplished by moving the members 44 and 45inwardly or outwardly of the frame 28 for the purpose of tilting thetampers on the pivots 49. Each pair of adjacent members 44 and 45 thusconstitutes a shifting device for varying the set of the tampers, andthese shifting devices are moved by means of arms 64 depending fromhorizontal rock shafts 65 that are mounted in cross pieces 66 on theupper ends of certain of the posts 46. The lower ends of the arms 64loosely engage in openings 67 of the members 45 as clearly shown in Fig.3 so that as the rock shafts are actuated, the tamper shifting deviceswill be thrown inwardly or outwardly simultaneously. One shaft 65 isprovided with upwardly-extending crank arms 68, while the other rockshaft is provided with depending crank arms 69 and the extremities ofthe crank arms of one shaft are connected with the extremities of thecrank arms of the other shaft by links 70 so that the shafts will rockin unison. One extremity of the rock shaft-having the depending crankarms extends through a bracket 71, Fig. 5, on the carriage and isequipped with a lever 72 for enabling the operator to turn the rockshafts, and adjacent the lever and mounted on the rock shaft is atoothed wheel 73 with which cooperates a pawl 74 for the purpose of holding the rock shafts in adjusted position. The rock shafts are held inthe bearings on the cross pieces 66 by keepers 7 5, Figs. 3 and 4, thatare pivoted on the said cross pieces at 76, and these keepers are heldin locked position by pins 77 that pass through the cross pieces. Theoutward movement of the tamper-setting or shifting devices is limited byupwardly-projecting stops 78, Fig. 4, on the frame 28 of the carriage,and extending across the carriage and mounted in these stops areguide-bars 79 that pass through the flanges 80 of the upper members 45of the tamper setting or shifting devices.

When the car is to be transported from place to place, it is necessaryto elevate the tampers so as to be out of the way of obstructions alongthe track. The elevating mech anism employed for this purpose consistsof a plurality of vertically-extending lifting members 81 that havetheir lower ends bent hori zontally at 82 to extend under the slides 51so as to raise the latter, the lower ends of the posts or standards 46being slotted to permit the extremity of each member 81 to en gage underboth slides of each standard for lifting them simultaneously. The upperends of the lifting members 81 are hingedly connected at 83 with crankarms 84 mounted on a horizontal shaft 85 journaled in the u per ends ofthe posts 46. The outermost li ting members 81 are disposed beyond theends of the .carriage D on which latter are fixed end uprights 86 thatare provided with slots 87 for receiving the lower extremities 82 of thetwo outermost lifting members. The shaft 85 is provided with arms orlevers 88 whereby the operator can turn the shaft to elevate the tamers, and the said arms are connected by a ro 89 whereby the operator canreadily operate the shaft when standing in the middle of the car, itbeing understood that the car is provided with suitable platforms onwhich the various operators can stand while managing the machine. ers inelevated position, a toothed sector 90 is arranged on the carriage, andon one of the arms 88 is a pawl 91 cooperating with To hold the tamp- Ip the toothed structure to lock the parts in raised position.

During the tamping opera-tion, the carriage is adapted to moveautomatically back and forth in a plane transverse to the car so thatthe tampers will progressively move along the sides of the ties to tarnpthe earth at all points under the latter. In the present instance,preferably a power-transmitting device is employed whereby the power canbe taken from the cam shaft .58, which device includes automaticallyoperated reversing means so as to return the carriage at the end of eachstroke. The carriage is provided withv a pair of parallel screws 92mounted in suitable bearings and carrying intermeshing gear wheels 98,whereby both screws operate together and in opposite directions, thethreads of the screws being similar. On one screw is a sprocket wheel 94over which passes a sprocket chain 95 that meshes with a sprocket wheel96 on the camcarrying shaft 58 so that the screws will operatesimultaneously with the latter. Mounted on one of the runners 33 is astandard 97, Figs. 2 and 6, which has its upper end formed intobifurcations 98, to receive a rod 99 that is supported at its ends bypassing through the two adjacent posts 4.6, Fig. 2. Mounted on the rod99 is a reversible V-shaped driving element 100 that has in the opposedfaces of the bars semi-cylindrical recesses 101 that are threaded toengage the screws 92, the arms being arranged at such angle with respectto each other that when one arm is in engagement with one screw, theother arm is out of engagement with the second screw. The element 100 isdisposed between the bifurcations 98 so that it is prevented from movingwith the carriage and, therefore, as the screws rotate, the carriagewill be propelled in one direction or the other. On the frame 28 of thecarriage, as shown in Fig. 6, are inwardly-extending brackets 102 oneach of which is mounted a cam plate 103. On the extremities of the armsof the element 100 are fingers 104 that are provided with rollers 105that travel around the perforations of the said cam plates. When oneroller is riding over the top edge of one cam plate, the other roller isriding under the bottom edge of the opposite cam plate. These cam platesserve to hold the element 100 in engagement with one of the screws untilthe carriage has reached the end of its stroke in one direction, andthen by suitable shifting means the element 100 is oscillated so as toengage the other screw for effecting the return stroke of the carriage.For shifting the element 100, each cam plate has oscillated with it ashifting lever 106 pivoted at 107 at'a point below the bottom edge ofthe cam plate, as shown in Fig. 7, and the free end of the lever isconnected with a retractile spring 108 anchored on a suitable part ofthe carriage. The shifting lever 106 serves to alternately engage onethreaded arm of the 'element 100 with its respective screw andsimultaneously disengage the other threaded arm from its screw, and thisshifting operation takes place after either roller 105 has passed fromunder the bottom edge of its respective cam plate, when it is free to beraised to the top edge thereof. The path of the roller is indicated bythe arrows in Fig. 7, and when the roller passes under the cam plate, itengages the lever and moves it gradually downwardly and at the same timeexpands the spring 108, thereby energizing the spring to cause the leverto shift the element 100 at the end of the stroke of the carriage. Itwill thus be seen that the carriage can be reversed automatically sothat after the earth is tamped under the tie by the carriage moving inone direction, the earth can be retamped by the carriage moving in theopposite direction until the earth is sufficiently firm under the ties.

In practice, the track, the ties of which are to be tamped, is laid andthe required amount of earth or ballast applied between the ties, afterwhich the car is brought into position for tamping the ties. Eachtamping mechanism is then adjusted by the operator in charge thereof soas to bring the tampers 41 into proper relation to the tie to be tampedby such mechanism, and after thus positioning the mechanism, the tampersare set in accordance with the width of the tie. After the severalmechanisms have been thus adjusted, the clutches can be thrown in so asto operate the tampers and as the latter are operated, the carriagesmove gradually in a lateral direction until the end of the stroke isreached, when the reversing mechanism is automatically shifted so as toeffect the return stroke. After the various mechanisms have finishedtamping their respective ties, the engine is unclutched from the tampingmechanisms and clutched to the propelling mechanism of the car so as tomove the latter one step forwardly to bring the tampers into tampingrelation to the next ties, at which oint the car is stopped byunclutching t e engine. The several tamping mechanisms are then adjustedto the new ties and the tamping thereof proceeded with. In this manner,the ties can be quickly and uniformly tamped and with a minimum of laborand expense.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings, the advantages of the construction and of themethod of operation will be readily a parent to those skilled in the artto whic the invention appertains, and while I have described theprinciple of operation of the invention, together with the apparatuswhich I now consider to be the best embodiment thereof, I desire to haveit understood that the a paratus shown is merely illustrative, an thatsuch changes may be made when desired as are within the scope of theclaims.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim is 1. In a tie tampingapparatus, the combination of a car, a carriage mounted thereon, tietamping elements on the carriage, power means for operating theelements, means for shifting the carriage longitudinally andtransversely with respect to the track.

2. In a tie tamping apparatus, the combination of a car, a plurality oftie tamping mechanisms, and means for independently adjusting themechanisms with respect to the ties to be tamped, said mechanisms eachcomprising oppositely-disposed tamping ele ments for operating on bothsides of a tie at once, and means for operating the elements.

8. In a tie tamping apparatus, the combination of a car, a tie tampingmechanism mounted for movement, a motor on the car, and a flexibledriving connection between the motor and mechanism, said mechanisms eachcomprising oppositely-disposed tampe ing elements for operating on bothsides of a tie at once, and means for operating the elements.

4. In a tie tamping apparatus, the combination of a car, a tampingmechanism mounted thereon, means for moving the mechanism laterally,means for moving the mechanism longitudinally of the car, a motor on thecar, and a flexible driving connection between the motor and mechanism,said connection including a pair of universal joints, and a telescopicjoint between the universal joints.

5. In a tie tamping apparatus, the combination of a car, a motorthereon, means for driving the car from the motor and including aclutch, a tie tamping mechanism movable transversely to and mounted onthe car, a slip joint between the motor and mechanism and means forclutching the mechanism to the motor.

6. In a tie tamping apparatus, the combination of a car, a motor mountedthereon, a tamping mechanism including'a shaft, means for moving themechanism transversely and longitudinally with respect to the car, andaflexible connection between the motor and said shaft, said connectionincluding universal joints and a slip joint.

7. In a tie tamping apparatus, the combination of a car including sidemembers, runners mounted on the said members, means for moving therunners together in a direction longitudinally of the car, a carriagemovable transversely to the runners and carried by the latter, andtamping elements mounted on the carriage.

8. In a tie tamping apparatus, the combie nation of a car, runnersmovably mounted thereon, means for simultaneously moving the runners, acarriage supported on the runners, tie tamping elements on the carriage,means for actuating the elements, and a device deriving power fromthesaid means for feeding the carriage during the tamping operation.

9. In a tie tamping apparatus, the combination of a car, runners mountedthereon, a rack and pinion device for moving the runners, a carriagemovably mounted on the runners, and tamping elements on the carriage.

10. In a tie tamping apparatus, the combination of a car, means movablelongitudinally thereof, rollers carried bythe said means, a carriageresting on the rollers, tie tamping elements on the carriage, means forfeeding the carriage during the tamping operation, and means foractuating the tamping elements.

11. In a tie tamping apparatus, the combination of a car, a plurality oftie tamping mechanisms mounted on the car, means for independentlymoving the mechanisms, a motor, controllable driving connections betweenthe motor and mechanism, and a line shafting between the motor andmechanism and including flexible joints for permitting the mechanisms tobe moved back and forth during the tamping operation.

12. In a tie tamping apparatus, the combination of a carriage, tictamping elements mounted thereon, means for adjusting the elements toties of different widths, means for actuating the elements togetherduring the up strokes, and yielding means for operating the elementindependently on the down stroke.

13. In a tie tamping apparatus, the combination of a frame, oppositelydisposed tamp ing elements, means for simultaneously raising theelements, and springs for actuating the elements on the tamping strokes.

14. In a tie tamping apparatus, the combination of'a supporting frame,oppositely disposed tamping elements, links to which the lower portionsof the elements are connected, means for raising the elements, separatemeans for moving the elements on their tamping strokes, and means forsetting the velements for ties of different widths.

15. In a tie tamping apparatus, the combination of a supporting frame, apair of oppositely disposed tamping elements, a pair of slides formovably supporting the lower ends of the elements, a member engagingboth slides for raising the elements simultaneously, and devices on theelements for moving the latter independently during the down stroke, andmeans engaging the upper ends for setting the elements for ties ofdifferent widths.

16. In a tie tamping apparatus, the combi-' nation of a plurality ofpairs of oppositely disposed tamping elements, a spring operativelyconnected with each element for actuating the same during the downstroke, means for movably supporting the same, a

' mechanism for actuating the elements, and

means for simultaneously adjusting the elements for ties of differentwidths. 17. In a tie tam ing apparatus, the combination of a plura ityof pairs of oppositely disposed tamping elements, means for movablysupporting the same, a mechanism for actuating the elements, means forsimultaneously adjusting the elements for ties of different widths,means for simultaneously elevating the elements, a cam-carrying shaftfor raising all the elements, and means on each element for moving thelatter downwardly on the tamping stroke.

18. In a tie tamping apparatus, the combination of a pair of oppositelydisposed tamping elements, means for movably mounting the elements forsimultaneous vertical adjustment, movably supported slides, separateconnections between the slides and elements, and means for operatingthrough the slides for adjusting the elements for ties of varyingwidths, means for positively raising the elements, and means foryieldingly forcing the elements downwardly on the tamping strokes.

19. Ina tie tamping apparatus, the com-v bination of a supporting frame,a guide, slides mounted thereon, oppositely disposed i tie tampingelements, links connecting the elements with the guide, additional linksconnecting the elements with the slides, means for operating through theslides for raising the elements, and devices for moving the ele- Z mentsdownwardly on the striking strokes.

20. In a tie tamping apparatus, the combination of a supporting frame, aguide, slides mounted thereon, o positely disposed tie tamping elements,linlis connecting the elements with the guide, additional linksconnecting the elements with the slides, means for operating through theslides for raising the elements, devices for moving the elementsdownwardly on the striking strokes, and a spring on the elements formoving the latter on their striking strokes.

21. In a tie tamping apparatus, the combination of a supporting frame, aguide, slides mounted thereon, o positely disposed I tie tampingelements, lin rs connecting the elements with the guide, additionallinks connecting the elements with the slides, means for operatingthrough the slides for raising the elements, devices for moving the eleiments downwardly on the striking strokes, a

spring on the elements for moving the latter on their striking strokes,and a device engaging the slides for vertically adjusting the elementsand for holding the same in raised posltion.

ments downwardly on the striking strokes, a 7

spring on the elements for moving the latter on their striking strokes,and means for adjusting the elements for ties of difierent widths.

23. In a tie tamping apparatus, the com bination of a supporting frame,a guide, slides mounted thereon, o positely disposed tie tampingelements, linlis connecting the elements with the guide, additionallinks connecting the elements with the slides, means for operatingthrough the slides for raising the elements, devices for moving theelements downwardly on the striking strokes, a spring on the elementsfor moving the latter on their striking strokes, means for adjusting theelements for ties of different widths, and means for verticallyadjusting the elements.

24. In a tie tamping apparatus, the combination of a plurality ofvertically disposed guides, a pair of slides on each guide, .tie tampingelements at opposite sides of each post, means for movably mounting theelements on the guides, connections between the slides and elements, andmeans for simul' taneously adjusting the elements to ties of differentwidths.

25. In a tie tamping apparatus, the com bination of a plurality oftamping elements, means for periodically raising the same,

springs for moving the elements on the tampj ing strokes, a rock shaft,connections between the rock shaft and elements for vertically adjustingthe latter, andv a locking de vice for holding the elements invertically adjusted position. I

26. In a tie tamping apparatus, the combination. of a plurality ofspring-actuated tamping elements, cam-actuated means for moving theelements in one direction, means for simultaneously adjusting theelements in a vertical direction, and a locking device for holding theelements in adjusted position.

27. In a tie tamping apparatus, the combination of tamping elements, adriving shaft raising the latter, a carriage on which the elements aremounted, and a reversible feeding mechanism driven by the shaft forreciprocating the carriage.

29. In a tie tamping apparatus, the combination of a plurality ofspring-actuated tamping elements, a cam-carrying shaft, means betweenthe shaft and elements for raising the latter, a carriage on which theelements are mounted, a reversible feeding mechanism driven by the shaftfor reciprocating the carriage, means for adjusting the tamping elementsfor ties of different widths, and means for vertically adjusting theelements.

30. In a tie tamping apparatus, the combination of a plurality oftamping elements, a driving shaft, means between the shaft and elementsfor actuating the latter, slidably mounted members for adjusting theelements to ties of different widths, and means for simultaneouslyactuating the members.

31. In a tie tamping apparatus, the combination of a plurality oftamping elements, a driving shaft, means between the shaft and elementsfor actuating the latter, slidably mounted members for adjusting theelements to ties of different widths, a pair of rock shafts, arms on therock shafts engaging the members for moving the same, and means foractuating the rock shafts in unison.

32. In a tie tamping apparatus, the combination. of a carriage, tampingelements mounted thereon, means for actuating the elements, a feedingdevice including a pair of screws on the carriage, and a relativelyfixed device periodically engaged with one screw and disengaged from theother for reversing the carriage.

33. In a tie tamping apparatus, the combination of a movablecarriageftamping elements carried thereby, means for actuating theelements, a pair of simultaneously rotated screws mounted on thecarriage, a device alternately engaging the screws for reversing thecarriage, means for holding the device in engagement with each screwduring the travel of the carriage, and spring-actuated shifting elementsfor disengaging the device from one screw and engaging it with the otherat the end of each stroke.

34. In a tie tamping apparatus, the combination of a carriage, tietamping elements mounted thereon, a shaft for actuating the elements, apair of screws mounted on the carriage, a driving connection between theshaft and one of the screws, a relatively fixed device arranged toengage one screw at a time for feeding the carriage by the rotation ofthe screws, cams for holding said device in engagement with eitherscrew, and means for shifting the device at the end of each stroke ofthe carriage.

35. In a tie tamping apparatus, the com bination of a carriage, tietamping elements, means for adjusting the elements, a camcarrying shaftfor actuating the elements, a pair of parallel screws, meshing gears onthe screws, a driving connection between the said shaft and one of thescrews, a pivotally mounted device arranged to engage one screw at atime for reciprocating the carriage by the rotation of the screws, andmeans for automatically engaging the device with one screw anddisengaging it from the other end of each stroke of the carriage.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOHN ILIFF.

Witnesses H. O. MCCORMICK, A. J. HEATH.

